Issue 20, 2024

Constructing built-in electric fields in 2D/2D Schottky heterojunctions for efficient alkaline seawater electrolysis

Abstract

Developing efficient and durable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts is critical for industrial and sustainable hydrogen production. Herein, a simple co-precipitation strategy is proposed to successfully construct catalysts with a Mott–Schottky heterojunction by coupling a transition-metal phosphate to the surface of stripped MXene thin-layer nanosheets (M3(PO4)2@MXene, M = Co, Ni, and Fe). The Co3(PO4)2@MXene with a unique tightly connected 2D/2D heterostructure and built-in electric field induces directional electron transfer at the interface, regulates the polarized structure of the active sites, and accelerates both mass and electron transport. Consequently, the optimized Co3(PO4)2@MXene demonstrates outstanding HER performance, achieving low overpotentials of 46 and 58.6 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline freshwater and seawater electrolytes, respectively. Moreover, the Co3(PO4)2@MXene heterojunction catalyst maintains stable operation at a high current density of 500 mA cm−2 for over 100 h in alkaline seawater electrolytes. More importantly, Co3(PO4)2@MXene can offer a low potential of 1.71 V at 500 mA cm−2 with stable operation for 50 h in a flow-type alkaline seawater electrolyser. This study provides a unique heterostructure in an electrocatalyst for an efficient HER and presents its potential application in seawater electrolysis.

Graphical abstract: Constructing built-in electric fields in 2D/2D Schottky heterojunctions for efficient alkaline seawater electrolysis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Research Article
Submitted
24 iyn 2024
Accepted
23 avq 2024
First published
30 avq 2024

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024,11, 6909-6918

Constructing built-in electric fields in 2D/2D Schottky heterojunctions for efficient alkaline seawater electrolysis

H. Chen, L. Deng, S. Zhao, S. Liu, F. Hu, L. Li, J. Ren and S. Peng, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024, 11, 6909 DOI: 10.1039/D4QI01587H

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